THORACIC KYPHOSIS

In this lesson we will look at how to avoid
getting Thoracic Kyphosis (TK). TK is basically the rounding of the
back, which comes from hours of slouching. If we spend hours doing
something that only uses the muscles on the front of our body (like
drumming!), the muscles on the front, such as front deltoids, inner
peck etc, become overactive, strong and tight. Because the muscles
on the back have not been used to the same degree, they become weak
and loose. The shoulders then get pulled forward.

When you're
sitting at the drumkit, if you then under rotate your hips so that
you are slouching, this compounded with the shoulders being stooped
forward could very likely lead to you getting TK.

To avoid
this, you need to do 2 things,

1) square out your posture by
doing resistance exercises that use you major back muscles
(rhomboids and lats). These exercises can include lat pulldowns,
bent over rows or cable rows.

2) rotate your hips properly
when you sit behind the kit.

Here's a picture of what a
Kyphotic spine looks line..

This can lead to an enormous amount of pain,
here's why.. Because the discs in the back are all being squashed at
the front end (because the spine is curled forward), all the soft
gel in the spinal discs gets pushed to the back. Depending on how
bad it gets, you could one day herniate the disc, at which point
you're in real strife. At this point the gel is actually pushing
through the wall of the disc!

Moral of the story is this.

1) Strengthen your back to square out your posture, but do it
safely! You don't need heavy weights.2) Always keep your hips
rotated when you sit behind the kit, this will help keep your spine
in it's natural S curve